Winter FLame

Part 4

The weeks following your arrival at the Compound, you were given a room, Nat and Wanda took you shopping for a wardrobe. You were given space to acclimate to being free. One morning you woke from a nightmare, breathing hard you sit up in the bed. You look around your room, waiting for your breathing to level out. Deciding you need a drink you get up and pad from your room to the main common area. You head to the kitchen and grab a glass. Turing on the water, filling the glass you start thinking about the team that welcomed you. Nat and Wanda were kind and patient with you. Constantly trying to include you in their outings. Steve introduced you to working out and was teaching you to box. Sam caught you up on all the movies you missed. Turns out your time with Hydra was a total of 6 years. You were twenty two now. You missed your family. But knowing they weren't in pain was a Godsend.

As you were sipping your water, you hear someone clear their throat. You startle and drop your glass into the sink. It shatters and you say, "Shit!"

"Hey, it's okay. It's Just me." Bucky says holding his hands up. He moves to the sink and helps you clean it up.

"I'm sorry. I didn't mean to. I was a mistake." You babble picking up a piece of glass too fast. It cuts your finger.

Bucky sees the cut and quickly grabs a towel to wrap your hand. As he applies pressure to your hand, you take the opportunity to actually look at Bucky. In the time at the compound he hasn't gone out of the way to approach you but he would talk to you if you crossed paths. But he was always nice. His face was contorted into one of concentration as he fiddled with your hand. His eyes were some of the most beautifully haunted eyes you've ever seen. He was biting his lower lip as he turned your hand this way and that way.

"Hold this tight to your hand. i'll be right back." He says as he turns to leave.

You go to stop him and let him know it's okay. That'll it'll be healed before he gets back but he was already gone. You take the time to run your healing hand under the water and dry it off. He comes back with a first aid kit and sets it on the counter. You cautiously look up at him and say, "You didn't need to get that. It's already healed."

He looks up at you and you barely notice his breath hitching in his throat. You look at him confused before holding your hand out to him to show it was fine. He takes your hand and looks it over carefully.

"You're gifted?" Bucky asks softly.

"I wouldn't call it that exactly. I poses healing abilities and some other stuff but its nothing special." You laugh bitterly.

Bucky looks at you confused and asks, "What do you mean it's nothing special?"

You take a shuddering breath, silently berating yourself for starting to cry. Hating how easily you shed tears. "I couldn't protect myself or my family. I couldn't save us." You sob softly. Holding your face in your hands to hide from his look, your body starting to wrack from the crying. You suddenly feel two hands on your shoulders before you're gently pulled into a warm hug. His arms wrapped around you protectively and he whispers to you, "Shhh it's okay. You were a kid. It's not your fault Y/n."

You relax into him and his arms and let the tears fall freely. Your arms slowly making their way around his waist and he holds you tighter. After some time you pull away wiping the drying tears from your face. You look up at him from inches away and realize that he has the bluest eyes ever. They were beautiful. Noting the haunted look in them again. You step back and revert to your shell, asking bitterly, "Why are you being so nice to me? You don't even like me."

He looks at you surprised and responds, "What makes you think I don't like you?"

"You only talk to me when we cross paths. You haven't sought me out like Steve or Nat and Wanda. It's like I'm this plague trespassing in your area." You say harshly.

Suddenly he erupts into a fit of laughter. You give him a look of pure anger and he stops, trying to catch his breath he grabs your hand gently. You fight to take it away from him but he grips you a little tighter and says, "Doll I don't hate you. I'm giving you space. Your reaction to seeing me the first time let me know you know my reputation as the Winter Soldier. You were terrified of me. I've been trying to let you figure out on your own that I'm not that killing machine."

Your head snaps up and you look at him with confusion on your face. The realization of what he's saying hitting you like a ton of bricks. He didn't hate you. He was giving you space. He was being careful of you. That was... sweet of him. You nod sharply not knowing what to say so you turn and walk towards your room leaving him to finish cleaning up the kitchen. Seeing the time on the wall you decide its time to stay up and head to the gym. You pull on a back sports bra and a matching pair of leggings and some black running shoes.

As you make your way into the gym you decide to run. Having found it helps you think and clear your head. Steve will be up in an hour and you could spar with him like usual. When you get into the gym you find Nat and Wanda on the mats. Nat has Wanda in a headlock and you can she Wanda thinking about her next move. You get to the treadmills and find Sam on one already running. You grab one next to him and start the machine up. You match his pace and fall into an easy run. Fifteen minutes in you decide to push yourself so you speed the machine up as fast as you think you can go. You're running full out and don't notice that Steve came in followed by Bucky. Little did you know you'd be sparring with Barnes today.

Steve walks up to you and waves a hand in front of your face, "Hey sweetheart, wanna come back to earth?" He asks

You nod and slow the machine down. Steve's eyes popping in surprise at your speed. You hop off and ask "What?"

"You were running faster than me and Buck here could." He said with a small smile on his face. You think about all the times you've seen him run and your eyes widened in shock. He and Bucky were really fast. You couldn't believe it.

"I gave up trying to pace with you when you kicked the speed up to 20mph baby girl. You were kicking my ass and you didn't seem to be struggling." Sam shouted to you from the weights.

You look over at him and a blush creeped up your face.